President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris Announce Members of the COVID-19 Response Team
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris yesterday announced additional members of the White House COVID-19 Response team. These diverse, accomplished, and crisis-tested individuals will work to quickly implement a comprehensive, whole-of-government COVID-19 response strategy to contain the pandemic, restore public trust, and protect all Americans.
As part of today’s announcement, the president-elect and vice president-elect named coordinators for three crucial aspects of the COVID-19 response strategy: supply chain management, vaccinations, and testing.
The Supply Coordinator will coordinate the federal effort focused on securing, strengthening, and ensuring a sustainable pandemic supply chain, working with departments and agencies to ensure there is sufficient PPE, tests, vaccines, and related supplies and equipment.
The Vaccinations Coordinator will focus on making sure vaccines turn into vaccinations by coordinating the timely, safe, and equitable delivery of COVID-19 vaccinations for the U.S. population, in close partnership with relevant federal departments and agencies, as well as state and local authorities.
The Testing Coordinator will coordinate the federal effort to expand COVID-19 testing and the use of testing for an effective public health response, with an emphasis on expanding and targeting testing for schools, nursing homes, other at-risk populations, and communities hardest hit by the pandemic. The Coordinator will chair the National Pandemic Testing Board, which will work to ensure equitable test allocation, identify bottlenecks, and overcome barriers to access.
“This accomplished and experienced team will work to get the pandemic under control so that the American people can get back to their lives and to their loved ones. To recover from this pandemic, we must take aggressive action to manufacture, distribute, and administer vaccines, testing, and personal protective equipment in an equitable way. These individuals are deeply qualified and will restore public trust in the pandemic response by leading with facts, science, and integrity,” said President-elect Joe Biden.
“Containing the coronavirus pandemic is one of the defining challenges of our time. This outstanding team will help us defeat this challenge by helping us get this virus under control, responsibly reopen our economy, and safely reopen our schools. I look forward to working closely with these dedicated public servants to save lives, contain this pandemic, and build better preparedness for future pandemics and other public health threats,” said Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
“To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, we must implement an aggressive response to slow the spread of the virus, protect frontline workers, and ensure the safe and efficient delivery of treatments and vaccines. This team is deeply qualified to help lead our White House efforts to protect the American people from the virus,” said incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.
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